Biography
In 1991, a group of students at Malay College Kuala Kangsar
(MCKK), which included Loque, Kadak and Kalai (who joined the band soon
after their drummer left), formed a band called Loque's Tail. Producing
their own material, the band was heavily influenced by Metallica. Later, the grunge genre was making waves in Malaysia and Loque's Tail decided to have a change in their musical direction from metal to grunge and punk.
During a school break in 1993, Loque frequently visits a jamming studio named the Black Widow Studios in Petaling Jaya.
During one of his visits he bumped into Emmett, who was there jamming
with his own band at the time, Grunge Dayz. Impressed with the band's
cover of "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers,
and then he show his skills on "I Could Have Lied" to Emmett. Loque
approached him to form a new band, which they finally settled on
Butterfingers for the band's name. Not long after, Butterfingers was a
hit in the local underground scene, playing in packed gigs.
Butterfingers produced their first pair of demos in 1994, "Girl
Friday"(Butterfingers first song) and When You're Addicted (later
renamed to "Nicc o'Tynne"), which were first performed at the Cobra Club House,
somewhere between late 1994 and early 1995. With the positive feedback
and confidence received from the gig, they decided to record more songs.
12 goats, 6 oranges and 2 angles was their first demo, which
came from a live session at FM Studio on the 10th of January 1995. The
demo displayed the raw energy they were known for, and heavily
influenced by grunge with Emmett's vocals being presented in the same
fashion as Kurt Cobain's. Many of the locals had the impression that their demo was an unreleased Nirvana album. Later on, Butterfingers became a staple name in underground scene, along with other bands such as OAG, The Splatters and Spiral Kinetic Circus. They then released further demo tapes such as Butter Couldn't Melt, and Dragon.
Rise To Fame (1996-1999)
Butterfingers then released their debut album, 1.2 Miligrams (1996) after signing with EMI Malaysia. The album is quoted to have been "...laced with Nirvana-esque tunes, much like Mudhoney's
early albums...". The album went on to achieve the local Gold status
for sales of over 15,000 units. They went on to release their second
album Butter Worth Pushful (1997) with a much more matured sound
which debuted at number six on the Malaysian International RIM Charts, a
first ever for a local band. The album continued to propel
Butterfingers to a higher level of local fame, earning them their second
consecutive Gold status (with an estimated total of over 18000 units
sold), and it also gave them their first AIM (Anugerah Industri Muzik or
Music Industry Award) nominations for 'Best Engineered Album' and 'Best English Album'.
In March 1999, Transcendence (1999) debuted at the number
three on the RIM International Charts was released and sold over 60,000
units, which was considered to be Butterfinger's best work. The album
went on to earn Butterfingers their first Double Platinum Award. This
album also contains their most well-known song, "The Chemistry (Between
Us)".
2000-2009 & Break Up
After the success of Transcendence and the release of Butter Late Than Never
(2000), a collection of old live tracks and outtakes with some
previously unreleased songs from earlier demos, Butterfingers released Malayneum
(2001) to critical acclaim, despite the mixed reaction from fans who
still wanted a more 'grunge-y' sound the band was known for. After the
release of a greatest hits album The Best is Yet to Come (2003),
the band started working on their next album which would eventually
become their first album that was sung in the Malay Language, entitled Selamat Tinggal Dunia (2005).
In 2003, Emmett had left to pursue his studies in Canada, leaving the rest of the band to release and promote Selamat Tinggal Dunia without him. Loque later left for Berkley College in Boston in 2006.
Butterfingers ended their hiatus with another Malay album which would also be their last album together, Kembali (2008). The album was well received by fans and critics alike.
On 29 March 2009, they performed their farewell show at the Sunburst Music Festival. Butterfingers performed with Greg Henderson (who had replaced Loque, who was back in Boston).
2009-Present
After returning from Boston, Loque started a new project called
monoloQue. Recently, Emmett has returned to Malaysia and performed at
the Petronas Technology University on July 31, 2015. Loque was reported to have said that he has no interest reforming Butterfingers in a recent interview:
“To me there’s no point in repeating myself. I’m not trying to be
Metallica here, or Wings, or Search. To gather old fans and play the old
songs. I don’t really mind it. I need to progress. As a composer, as an
artist I really need to try new things. There’s always a stigma with
Butterfingers. I’ve accepted it.
That’s why I don’t do 'Butterfingers X'
or 'Real Butterfingers'. monoloQue is a different entity entirely. Even
though my element will always be 'Butters'. The sound is me, I’m
'Butters'. No matter how you take me out of the equation. Apart from the
songs and the sound, it’s me, Emmett, Kadak and Loko. So when you say
Butterfingers, it has to be all of us because people want to hear
Emmett, they want to hear Kadak’s sound, and Loko. Up until Malayneum (2001) the Butterfingers thing was going smoothly; up to Selamat Tinggal Dunia
(2005), it had already gone into a writer’s block phase for me. And I
don’t know how I came up with those songs. That’s what makes the album
special to me. 'Butters' will always be inside me, I started it all and
it’s my baby.
So when fans cannot accept things as they have gone now, I
just feel they need to move on as well. They cannot be selfish to ask
me to play Butterfingers again. It’s not because I don’t want to because
of monoloQue, I did monoloQue because I already made an oath to myself –
I’d rather sell 10 records loving what I’m playing than selling 100,000
copies and waiting before, with limitations and obligations towards
other people. I don’t think I’ll be doing scoring if I had stuck with
Butterfingers, all the opportunities I can tell you came from my ideas
with monoloQue. Thankfully, I’m happier now and can put food on the
table with monoloQue.
Music Style
Butterfingers music is often characterised under the genre of Grunge.
As time went on, they have evolved with a more matured sound,
progressing with multiple influence variations including alternative
rock, post-grunge, classic rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock and
traditional/folk. During their English language era, the band's primary
lyricist was Emmett, while Loque was the primary songwriter throughout
the band's conception. Often attributed for their live performances, the
band rarely perform in large venues such as arenas and amphitheaters.
Instead, they regularly plays smaller venues. Loque once said in an
interview, "We're definitely a live band. That's what it's all about for
us. We make records so we can go out and play for the people."
Hit Song
- Naive Sick Chasm from the album 1.2 Milligrams
- Chrome from the album 1.2 Milligrams
- Royal Jelly from the album 1.2 Milligrams
- Nicc O'Tynne from the album 1.2 Milligrams
- Me from the album 1.2 Milligrams
- Fire is a Curse? from the album Butter Worth Pushful
- Stolen from the album Butter Worth Pushful
- Ruin by the Selling Out from the album Butter Worth Pushful
- Girl Friday from the album Butter Worth Pushful
- Delirium from the album Butter Worth Pushful
- Vio-pipe from the album Butter Worth Pushful
- The Chemistry(between us)from the album Transcendence
- Faculties of the Mind from the album Transcendence
- Epitome from the album Transcendence
- Malayneum from the album Malayneum
- Pacific from the album Malayneum
- Mating Season from the album Malayneum
- Pretty Rain from the album Malayneum
- Cuai from the album Selamat Tinggal Dunia
- Kabus Ribut from the album Selamat Tinggal Dunia
- 1000 tahun (mahu hidup)from the album Kembali
- Terus Terang from the album Kembali
- Bebas from the album Kembali
- Stranger Danger from Emmett I
Reference: AllMusic, Wiki, SeniFokus
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